I’ve had the chance to partake in a few Beta tests over the last couple of years. All have yielded mixed impressions, and go a long way to determining whether or not a game is worth my time. So shortly after the disappointing World in Conflict Beta, the next game to face the barrel of my gun is the Universe at War Beta. It’s a multiplayer only Beta test, and I guess you already know that. But when an RTS title comes along promising something fresh and new, you have to jump at the chance. So let’s kill a small bird with a rather large rock and get the random stuff (which I’m not likely to include in my review) out the way.
After putting in two codes what seemed several times, installing and registering for the Live! Service I was ready to go. I can only feel that I’m going to have to do this again when the game goes retail, but whatever works against the Pirates. I’m all for it! Anyway, let’s first do a faction run-down. Sure it’s been heard 101 times in about 50 odd existing previews, but I plan to do this a little different.
Hierarchy
Bigger is better it seems. If that is to be believed, it could therefore be true that the Hierarchy is ran by an over Zealous woman, but gathered by the existing state of the Hierarchy’s Empire, the rumours are quashed, because they’re doing a pretty fine job at taking over the galaxy.
This faction has walkers, big “let’s fill the screen” walkers. These huge chunks of metal are not of the Supreme commander type. They’re about 250% more useful and actually compliment their faction as opposed to just being part of a spam fest. And despite what many people and previews will tell you, they are mobile structures, not units. They are base on legs and a force to be reckoned with, all I know is that I’d love one parked outside my house.
The reason why is simple. They will have 7 highly customisable hard-points in which you can slot a whole manner of offensive, defensive and support “mini-structures” into them. These will range from guns of the anti-ground/air types, to weapon upgrades, to extra pods which will allow extra tech tree options. The strategy involved is based on the fact that if you don’t have the right combinations to counter your enemy with, you could be screwed over quicker than it takes Microsoft to sell you a copy of Vista.
Other than the walkers, bases will remain small and relatively unguarded. You’ll have an Arrival site that allows Glyph Carvers (builders), heroes, and the powerful monolith to spawn. As well as anti ground/air structures, and the Hierarchy super weapon structure, the Mass Drop, but more about that a bit later.
Units are a good compliment between somewhat worthwhile and must have, but each have their uses and commonly are best backed up by a hero dependant on a offensive / defensive / support role which your strategy implements. Although for the most part, the walkers will do the damage while the units protect them.
The Superweapons for the Hierarchy are probably the most original. One is a Mass drop which chucks useless junk down at the enemy and destroys a majority of the lighter structures and units unfortunate to be in the way. Personally if I was Petroglyph I would have used 100 copies of C&C 3 to be fired at killing the enemy, but I’m kinda guessing aside from the legal issues, it would be too heavily overpowered. But the real comedy of a flaming cow crashing to earth more than makes up for it!
The 2nd of the Hierarchy superweapons can be accessed from the powerful Science Walker. Even though it looks like a Las Vegas aquarium, there’s certainly something exceedingly gorgeous about the walker. And if my experience in women has taught me anything the most god damn beautiful things to look at on earth are usually the one’s that will hang, draw and quarter you, and take all your money. And the science walker is just that with its Radiation cascade. A huge tidal wave of radiation that goes on and on (just like a woman coincidentally) and wipes the smirk off your opponents face along with his units and structures.
Novus
Those seeking Micro-management heaven can turn to Novus. These guys are like the little nerdy kid you’d pick on in school, only to find he’s run away and told the teachers. Novus are ultimately weak in their assault strategy and will typically die on you the moment they get hit, but that’s not to say they can’t aspire to be the Chuck Norris of factions in Universe at War.
Novus’ power is in their lightning fast hit and run tactics and the sheer underestimated power of their flow network. The flow should be compared to the force in Star Wars, or the Matrix in err… yeah. This is because the Flow network should expand everywhere and anywhere possible, being all around you, it’s there when you build a structure, give orders to a unit, or harvest your resources. This means the flow exists to deny the enemy from as much of the map as possible. Success with Novus is only as good as the network they build.
But of course they are much more of a faction than just being able to get around without a taxi. Like all electronic equipment capable of connecting to an Internet, there are patches and viruses surrounding them. Patches are a great system that works well for the most part, but since you are only allowed two at a time, you are not going to be able to remain invincible forever, and it’s a bit of luck, because their viruses ensure their balance.
If an enemy gets infected by a Novus virus, there’s only one specific counter to getting rid of the damn thing. And unless you specifically know which unit is capable of Virus removal, then your faction is about as good as Norton Anti-virus or Windows Vista. And it’s a great sight to be on the giving end of one of these as you see your enemy slowly struggling to a crawl.
They are a great faction and are literally the most diverse faction in the game. You could compare them directly to the Nintendo Wii in appearance and performance, whereas the Hierarchy are the Playstation 3, and that is reflected in the amount of people who have used them in the Beta thus far. It would also explain why I have a Playstation 3, but we’re now getting hugely off the point here, so onto the superweapons.
The Superweapons for Novus are without a doubt the most cliché and straightforward of all 3 factions, but their power more than makes up for the factions obvious weakness. The first Superweapon is the EMP, which as far as traditional EMP’s this one ranks along the lines of awesome. In fact the enemy is more likely to get a bricked X-box 360 working after its 3 lights of death than get out of this weapon’s effects. It’s truly great because Novus forces can make light work of Hierarchy walkers for example, and still have enough forces left to have a giant party on behalf of their opponent’s base.
The 2nd of the Superweapons is the Black hole bomb. Chances are if you get caught up in this, it’s going to ruin your day. When fully charged, the bomb will (typically) be deployed in an enemy base. The resulting explosion of the bomb starts up a black hole and sucks everything not tied down into oblivion, while heavily damaging everything else. It’s great when it works but if you’re facing the Masari and they have the correct hero, it’ll be returned to sender and you’ll be faced with your own demise and the frustration of Live! filtering all your messages.
Masari
Chances are that if you didn’t listen to what granny did in the war, you’ll probably wish you did when you play as the Masari. Because, chances are, she might be old enough to remember them. This faction, for the most part, is quick to learn, but they take a while to master. And the irony is, they are exactly like old granny, and can be increasingly slow to get around, or do anything.
It can be hugely frustrating to a new player to think that they are doing well, and have built their first few units and have their first couple of techs researched. Then all of a sudden, a wake up call comes and the Masari will have half of the galaxy’s army on their doorstep. Now forgive my somewhat unjustified hatred of the simplistic and unoriginal looking Masari, but when that happens (more often than not in my experience) it’s historically right up there with the Battle of Little Bighorn!
But let’s look at the positive side of this faction. Their speed is probably due to their ability to grow more and more powerful as time goes on. And while the Hierarchy have similar issues, the Masari are a faction adept to war in small numbers. So much so, (that even for someone with some experience in the Multiplayer Beta) every time I have to go against this faction, I’m left with a sour taste of dry fear in my mouth.
Maybe I fear true Masari players, which there are very few right now. But I know a dangerous faction when I see one. And if facing this faction doesn’t strike fear into your heart and a deposit into somewhere else, then chances are you’re either inexperienced in the game, or have a problem with your ego. Because once these guys head towards late game, the wrath of the gods is on their side. They will be firing everything they have, and you will be dead if you don’t know how to counter them. And as a result, at that point, I begin to like and respect them. Playing with or against them provides a rather telling challenge and is one of the most satisfying gaming experiences possible. But I’ll explain more of that in the review, so onto their superweapons.
The Masari’s superweapons demonstrate what can happen if you allow these guys to get anywhere. Fireworks have nothing on these weapons, and it can be easy to see why by the spectacle of how they fire. First of which, is the Matter storm.
The Matter Storm mirrors the Masari’s apparent early game style. Now excuse my love affair with old granny, but this certainly is a superweapon that can be compared to her hitting you with her walking stick. Sure it may not hurt to start with. But as this pretentiously tough old bat whacks you some more, and for long enough, it’s gonna start leaving a mark and some pain. Yes the Matter storm is rather slow wearing support weapon that rains down from the sky and slowly chips away at anything that happens to be within the vortex. It can make light work of the light units and structures, but does absolutely nothing to the heavyweights other than look like a pretty cascade of matter. Which is why, the Masari have their other superweapon.
Burning wrath is more on the powerful side of (what Lead Designer Adam “Ishmael” Isgreen likes to call super powerful weapons) WTFPWN! The Burning wrath can be considered a smaller yet more powerfully concentrated and direct version of the Matter Storm. Widely regarded as the Masari’s version of GDI’s Ion Cannon in Command & Conquer, this weapon mirrors their late game abilities. Be sure to watch out for this weapon, it’ll cook anything that gets in the way.
Well that concludes this preview of the 3 factions in Universe at War. Hopefully this will allow you to be more informed about the Hierarchy, Novus and Masari and what they do. The Beta has been great fun so far and has been a great indication for what is to come.
Look out for the Petro-Gamers; Universe at War Review coming soon. Universe at War is due out on PC DVD on October 30th in the United States and from 2nd November World-wide.
Saracen
